Ron Harris: Chelsea Player 1961 to 1980

Footballers often have nicknames, with some of them being irrelevant to the outside world but others painting a picture about their playing style. The fact that Ron Harris was known affectionately as ‘Chopper’ probably tells you quite a lot about the way that he thought about the game. Whilst he wasn’t quite a one-club man, playing for Brentford for a few years after he left Chelsea, he was pretty close to being one. He was at Stamford Bridge for 18 years as a senior player, or 20 if you also include his time in the Chelsea youth system. That contributed towards the fact that he set the appearance record, playing 795 times for the Blues.

Ron Harris’s Honours as a Chelsea Player

Who is Ron Harris?

Ronald Edward Harris was born on the 13th of November 1944 in the Hackney area of London. He grew up in Stamford Hill, supporting Arsenal from an early age. His first trip to Highbury came in 1952 as an eight-year-old, taking an immediate shine to Wally Barnes. Whilst most young kids might like the fancy striker or a ball-playing midfielder, Harris’ eye was caught by the no-nonsense left-back. In spite of this and his love of the Gunners, he joined Chelsea as a 15-year-old and went from supporting the North London club to believing that ‘Blue is the colour’. Coming from an ‘ordinary working class background’, he knew the meaning of hard work.

With a father who was a van driver and a mum who worked putting frames on leather purses, Harris wasn’t the only member of his family who went into football, playing alongside his brother during the 1960s. His first job was as a member of Chelsea’s ground staff, earning £7 per week, which dropped to £4 once his mum had taken away some money for the housekeeping. Ron and Allan Harris would spend hours playing football and cricket in the back garden of the prefab house, doing their own pre-football training. When he passed the 11-plus he had the chance to go to a grammar school but didn’t because they only played rugby there.

Joining Chelsea

At primary school, Harris got picked to be part of the under-11s team for Hackney. When Allan signed for Chelsea, Harris realised that he would follow in the footsteps of his brother rather than join the likes of Tottenham Hotspur or West Ham United. Having joined the club as a 15-year-old, ‘Chopper’ signed professional papers in the August of 1960. Within a year he’d won his first piece of silverware, albeit not one that is considered in the record books, when the club won the FA Youth Cup. It took until the February of 1962 for Harris to be handed his full debut, which came when he was 17 and was thanks to manager Tommy Docherty.

It was during the 1963-1964 campaign that Harris became a fully-fledged member of the first team. The following season Chelsea won the League Cup, with Harris playing an important role in the success. In spite of the fact that he wasn’t the quickest, what he lacked in pace he made up for thanks to his tenacity and his will to win. Docherty told him how to mark players effectively, telling him to ‘larrup them in the first few minutes and then stay behind them and cough occasionally to let them know you’re not too far away’. He was the enforcer for Chelsea, happily getting involved in a scrap if it meant three points were more likely.

Becoming the Club Captain

Harris played alongside Terry Venables for a couple of years, although the two didn’t get on. Venables was ‘flashy and loud’, which was in direct contrast to how Harris liked to conduct himself. He later said, “I do think he was overrated as a player. There were fellas around him at Chelsea, like Bobby Tambling, George Graham, who were far better players.” When Venables left to join Tottenham Hotspur, Harris was seen as the obvious replacement for him as the club captain. It certainly helped that he was a virtual ever-present in the Chelsea team, with what followed during the period he had the armband being good for the club.

Chelsea played in four major finals between 1967 and 1972, with Harris captaining the team in all of them. When he led Chelsea out in the FA Cup final in 1967, he became the youngest ever captain to do so. Although they lost 2-1 to Spurs, Harris had made history. The loss was corrected three years later when they made it to the FA Cup final once again, this time facing Leeds United. The final would go down as one of the most physical finals of all time, which played right into ‘Chopper’s hands. Leeds had a 2-1 lead when Harris played a quick free-kick with six minutes on the clock, allowing Ian Hutchinson to equalise.

The replay took place at Old Trafford, with Harris landing a heavy and late tackle own Eddie Gray just eight minutes into the match. Gray was Leeds’ playmaker, but Harris had nobbled him for the rest of the game. It ended up going to extra-time, with Chelsea ending up as 2-1 winners and Harris lifting the trophy for the first time in the club’s history. It wasn’t the last silverware he lifted, with the FA Cup victory allowing the club to play in the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup, with the final this time seeing the Blues taking on Real Madrid. That match also went to a replay, which Chelsea also won to secure another trophy lift.

Leaving Chelsea

Chelsea played another final, this time in the League Cup, in 1972. The opponents for the Blues were Stoke City, who got a surprising win against the London club to deny Harris the chance to lift another trophy in what would prove to be his last major final. During the 1970s, Harris saw many of the club’s big names decide to move on, with the likes of Peter Osgood and Alan Hudson falling out with the manager, Dave Sexton. Even so, Harris remained loyal and continued to be something of an ever-present in the team. As his time at the club went on, he was moved out of central defence into various positions, depending on what the side needed.

When Eddie McCreadie retired, Harris was asked to play left-back, with the defender also being asked to cover at right-back sometimes. In the latter stages of his career with the club, Harris took on a holding midfielder role that would later become popularised thanks to the likes of Claude Makélélé. Across ten seasons, Harris averaged 41 league games, with an average of 37 over the other five. In 1980, however, his time with the club was finally brought to a close. Harris made the choice to leave in order to become the player-coach of Brentford, having set the appearance record with 795 games for the Blues.

Life After Chelsea

Harris joined Brentford for the 1980-1981 season, racking up 34 appearances across all competitions. In the following year that dropped to 23 games, then 14. In his final season with the Bees, which was the 1983-1984 campaign, he played just five times. He then had a brief stint as the player-manager for non-league Aldershot, but his days as a top-level footballer were over. For a time, he decided to train greyhounds and then he returned to Chelsea in something of a ceremonial role after Roman Abramovich bought the club.